1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of supporting sales and maintenance of steam traps. The invention relates also to an aggregating system for use in the method.
2. Description of the Related Art
For maintenance of a great number of steam traps installed in a factory or plant, there has been proposed a system in which a working condition of each steam trap is diagnosed by a diagnostic device and based on the diagnostic result data obtained for all the steam traps, a host computer calculates a total steam leakage amount relating to total steam loss due to malfunction of the defective steam traps and a monetary converted value of the loss (Japanese published patent gazette No. Hei. 6-14381).
There has been also proposed a system for predicting a replacement/repair fining of each steam trap. In this system, based on diagnostic result data obtained by a diagnostic device for each steam trap, a monetary converted value of a steam leakage amount due to malfunction of the steam trap is calculated and this calculated monetary converted value is stored for each day of diagnosis. Then, this stored monetary converted value is subjected to a statistical regression operation to obtain regression data, which data is subsequently compared with a cost required for replacement/repair of the steam trap, whereby the replacement/repair timing of the steam trap is predicted (Japanese laid-open patent gazette No. Hei. 9-54841).
Conventionally, although the total steam loss due to malfunction of the defective steam trap(s) and a monetary converted value of the loss are calculated and the replacement/repair timing of each steam trap is predicted by using the systems described above, in actually replacing the steam trap, it would be the conventional practice to replace only the steam trap(s) diagnosed as being defective.
Further, even if the replacement timing of the steam trap is predicted by the latter-described system, this prediction would be made based only on comparison between the monetary converted value of the total steam loss due to the malfunction and the cost required for the replacement.
However, steam leak occurs even with a steam trap which is functioning properly and the amount of steam leak (i.e. the steam leak which inevitably occurs when the tap is functioning properly due to certain technical principle of the trap) significantly varies, depending on the particular type or model of the steam trap. For this reason, if only defective steam traps are replaced among numerous steam traps presently installed, the existing steam traps of those types with inherently large leak amounts will be in use continuously. So that, it is not possible to effectively reduce the economic loss suffered by the entire plant due to the steam loss. In this regard, the conventional systems did not allow effective use of significant costs invested on the maintenance of the steam traps of the entire plant.
Further, even if replacement is to be made, when the timing of such replacement is determined based on the simple comparison between the monetary converted value of the total steam loss amount due to malfunction and the cost required for the replacement, the timing of replacement thus determined will be only after the portion of the loss due to the model difference has become too large. So that, the merit of replacement cannot be fully utilized. In this respect too, the significant replacement costs to be invested on the maintenance and replacement of the steam traps of the entire plant cannot be effectively utilized.
The causes of these problems will lie mostly in the contents of the services proposed by the seller of the steam traps to the customer of the plant and also in how the seller proposes and presents such contents to the customer.